Query over Selwood deal

JOEL Selwood has become the subject of AFL scrutiny, with one of the Geelong captain's third-party agreements the subject of debate between the league's investigations manager Ken Wood and Selwood's management.

As Carlton captain Chris Judd prepared to take his case to the AFL's grievance tribunal, a Selwood sponsorship remains in the balance, along with several other employment and third-party deals being scrutinised by the league.

The Selwood arrangement, which, despite speculation, does not involve Cats sponsor Cotton On, has not yet been resolved. His manager, Tom Petroro, refused to comment on the dispute on Friday while Cats football boss Neil Balme said he had no knowledge of any issue. The AFL said in a statement that third-party agreements remained the subject of scrutiny.

Judd's Visy deal - worth an annual $200,000 - was terminated one year early by the AFL, which has refused to give an explanation for the change of heart after the agreement had been allowed to run for five years.

With the Judd camp adamant that the champion midfielder will continue to work for Visy - a key Carlton sponsor - as a green ambassador, the Blues must find an additional $200,000 in their salary cap to fund the agreement, which Visy will continue to pay.

Judd has the backing of the AFL Players' Association and the case is expected to be heard by the grievance tribunal's soon-to-be-announced new chairman, a replacement for Jack Rush, who has stepped down to join the St Kilda board.

Former Supreme Court judge Murray Kellam, QC, is expected to take the role. Kellam has recently acted as the chief commissioner of Tasmania's Integrity Commission.

The Blues, the AFLPA and Judd's high-profile manager Paul Connors remain furious about the AFL decision, communicated by football boss Adrian Anderson on October 22 with little explanation. Anderson has been under mounting pressure for allowing the Judd-Visy agreement in the first place.

The Judd deal, which allegedly began six months after he joined Carlton in 2008, has been targeted for several years by rival clubs and the media. It has come under further scrutiny in the wake of the Kurt Tippett affair and has been a constant bugbear of Collingwood recently as that club sought to reach an agreement with its out-of-contract forward Travis Cloke.

Magpies president Eddie McGuire said on Friday: ''The only thing we have to have in the AFL is a level playing field. Obviously if they're going to belt the Adelaide Crows … you can point out other clubs that have got similar situation. It's a ridiculous notion.

''What we want is for everyone to be able to have the same situation, either have those deals that you can have outside the salary cap or have everything in the salary cap so that it's fair and reasonable. It's not a marketing exercise, it's a football competition.''